The oldest resident of Europe was found in the cliffs of northern Greece and it was established that it is “Bosnian”. Of course, it is not a man, but a tree that has lived more than impressive thousand years.
Bosnian pine tree (Pinus heldreichii) for which scientists from Sweden, Germany and the United States claim to be the oldest tree in Europe, was named after the Greek god of beauty, Adonis.
“It is amazing that such a large, complex and impressive ‘organism’ survived so long in a very hostile environment, in a country where people live for more than 3,000 years,” wrote the leader of the expedition that found the tree, Swedish dendrochronologist Paul J. Krusic.
Adonis is one of the few samples of the millennium trees, and it grows in the Pindus.
“Many years ago, I read about this very interesting forest in Greece. In our research, we are trying to make a chronological map in order to reconstruct the climate history, thus finding of the old trees is a key motivator,” said Krusic and explained the way for measurement of core timber according to which was found that the core of the Bosnian pine is one meter with 1,075 annual rings.
“I’m really impressed. In the context of Western civilization, all human history surrounded this tree, all empires, and all the people who lived in this region. So many things could cause its disappearance, but fortunately, this tree is living for thousands years absolutely intact “said Krusic.
Millennium tree was found during the research expedition of Navarino Environmental Observatory (NEO) in which participated the University of Stockholm, the Academy of Athens and Temes S.A.
It is interesting that Adonis was planted at a time when the Byzantine Empire was in its golden age, and it was 100 years old when Macbeth crowned the King of Scotland. It was 500 years old when Greece fell under the Ottoman Empire, and 750 years old when Isaac Newton established the Law of Motion. The tree survived marches of German Nazis, as well as Italy and Bulgaria, which also occupied Greece.
Otherwise, Bosnian pine tree is an endemic species that grows in the mountainous areas of the Balkans and southern Italy, and it grows very slowly.
(Source: klix.ba)
